A device for pulling skiers

ABSTRACT

A device for use as a ski-lift having a driven endless belt to be mounted close to the ground and up a skiing hill and supported by rollers therealong and at each end with one end roller being adjustably supported and also having means resiliently connected to said endless belt and capable of being held between the knees or by the hand of a skier whereby skiers can be pulled up said hill.

United States Patent 1191 Andren Apr. 1, 1975 [54] A DEVICE FOR PULLING SKIERS FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS l l Invenwrr i Andre", Chalmersgawn 1,422,528 11/1965 France 104/173 411 35 Goteborg, Sweden 1272,118 8/1961 France 104/173 [22] Filed: Apr. 27, 1972 Prlmar Examiner-Lloyd L. King pp 248,078 Assistant E.\'aminerRobert Saifer Attorney, Agent, or Firm-Ulle C. Linton [30] Foreign Application Priority Data Nov. 29. 1971 Sweden 15281/71 [57] ABSTRACT A device for use as a skI-lift having a driven endless [52 us. c1. 104/173 belt to be mounted close to the ground and up a Skiing 51 1111. C1 B6lb 11/00 hill and Supported y rollers therealong and at each [58] Field 01 Search 104/173 R, 173 ST. 196 end with one end roller being adjustably supported and also having means resiliently connected to said 5 References Cited endless belt and capable of being held between the UNITED STATES PATENTS knees or by the hand of a skier whereby skiers can be pulled up said hill. 2087.232 7/1937 Constam 104/173 ST 2,285,636 6/1942 Wallace 104/173 ST 4 Claims, 6 Drawing Figures SiEZIT 2 [1F 3 FIG. 2

FIG. 3

FIG. 6-

A DEVICE FOR PULLING SKIERS The present invention relates to a device preferably intended to be used as ski-lift.

It is a prim ary object of the invention to provide a skilift which is comparatively simple to mount and cheap to manufacture.

This object has been obtained by means of a device according to the invention which substantially is characterized by comprising a hauling means oflong extension and movable in its longitudinal direction which hauling means travels at a low height, a number of conveyor means at interspaced distances between them being connected to said hauling means and each one of said driving means exhibiting a handle grip part which can be moved sidewise away from the hauling means, said handle grip part being intended to be held firmly by the person using the lift.

In the following an embodiment of a ski-lift made in accordance with the invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which FIG. 1 is a schematical side elevational view of the ski-lift,

FIG. 2 is a cross section of the same along the line ll-ll in FIG. 1,

FIG. 3 is a side elevational view of the part of the skilift situated highest up on the hillside,

FIG. 4 is a cross sectional view of a detail entering into the ski-lift assembly according to a first variant of embodiment,

FIG. 5 is a longitudinal cross section through a part ofa hauling means provided with a device according to the invention as per a second variant of embodiment, and

FIG. 6 is a plan view of the device illustrated in FIG. 5.

The ski-lift comprises a hauling means 1 which in the embodiment illustrated is designed as an endless band running over a number of interspaced rollers 2 located along the hillside. Two substantially vertical pulleys 3 and 4 are arranged each one at its end of the ski-lift, the band 1 being stretched between them. The roller 4 is rotatably journalled in a frame structure 5, and the roller 3 is rotatably journalled in a frame 6. The frame 6 located highest up on the hillside can be seen most clearly in FIG. 3. Said frame 6 comprises two in between them movable parts 7 and 8 of which the frame part 7 supports the roller 3. The frame parts 7 and 8 can suitably be connected to each other in such a way, for example by means of guiding rails, that they are displaceable in the longitudinal direction of the band. The frame parts support a number of freely rotatable rollers 9 and 10, the frame part 7 in addition supporting a roller 11, which can be rotated by means of a crank, an electric motor or similar via the shaft indicated with 12 and the two gears 13 and 14 meshing with each other. A rope 15 extends between the two frame parts 7 and 8, in the embodiment illustrated said rope being attached to the frame part 7 with one of its ends and extending alternately between the different rollers 9 11 on the two frame parts and with its other end being wound around the roller 11, so that a shortening or prolongation of the portions of the rope 15 extending between the frame parts can take place in order to stretch and slack respectively the band 1.

The rollers 2 are supported on a cross shaft 16 suitably pairwise as is best evident from FIG. 2, one of the rollers entering into each pair supporting the upwards extending band portion, and the other one of said rollers supporting the downwards running band portion. The shaft 16 is in its turn supported by supporting means 17 of rigging screw type which means at their lower portion are connected to a base 18 which in its turn is provided with a pointed fastening means 19 which can be driven down into the ground. It IS of course also possible to equip the frame 5 and 6 with corresponding fastening means. The shape of the rollers exhibiting a tapering curve towards their middle portion is very suitable with respect to their capability to keep the band in the desired position. The driving of the band 1 can take place by way of example by means of a conventional electric motor, not illustrated in the drawings.

In FIGS. 1 4 numeral 20 indicates a conveyor means, to which the person using the ski-lift is holding on. The driving means comprises in the present case a spherical body which is designed to be kept firmly between the legs of the person using the ski-lift. The conveyor means 20 is connected with the top side of the band 1 via a rope 21 which runs in slings round the freely rotating pulleys which enter into the assembly of two pulley groups 22 and 23. The pulleys 23 are rotatably journalled in a housing 24 which is attached to the band 1, and the pulleys 22 are rotatably journalled in a holder 25 which is displaceablle in the longitudinal direction of the housing 24. A tension spring 26 tends to pull the holder 25 in direction towards the gable 24a of the housing 24. When a person wants to make use of the ski-lift, he pushes the conveyor means 20 aside to the working position illustrated in FIG. 2 and keeps the conveyor means 20 between his legs during the ride uphill. As soon as the conveyor means 20 leaves hold, the spring 26 will pull the holder 25 in direction towards the housing gable 24a, the slings positioned between the pulley groups 22 and 23 thereby getting prolonged, whereby the conveyor means 20 is retracted to its rest position on top of the band as illustrated in FIGS. 2 and 4. By the transmission ratio which is obtained between the pulley groups in the housing 24 serving the purpose of collecting means, the movement of the holder 25 relative to the housing 24 will be comparatively small even when drawing out a considerable length of.the rope 21. The spring 26 can suitably be adjusted in such a way that the rope 21 can be drawn out so far as it is at all possible without any resistance worth mentioning. The force of the spring needs only be so great that it can pull the conveyor means 20 to its rest position, when it is not used.

The supporting means 17 19 can be made in many different ways, without departing from the fundamental idea of the invention. On account of the low height at which one lets the band 1 run thanks to the present invention the supporting means can be designed with comparatively light dimensions making them cheap to manufacture, light to transport, and easy to mount. Anchoring to the ground by way of example can take place by freezing.

In FIGS. 5 and 6 as in the previous figures the band shaped hauling device is indicated at l. The hauling band comprises in this case of two separate bands 30 and 31 respectively which are sewn up in between them along their longitudinal borders. In the interspace between the bands 30 and 31 there is placed still another band which in its totality is indicated at 32. The band 32 illustrated in the drawing comprises a resilient portion 33 and a comparatively non resilient portion 34. The resilient portion 33 can by way of example be of rubber. The band portion 33 of rubber is at one of its ends fastened to the two bands 30 and 31 via a comparatively elastic band loop 35, the sides of which are sewn each one to its band 30, 31 and the ends of which are attached to the rubber band 32 by way of example by glueing. The band portion 34 is attached to the free end of the band portion 33 via two fastening bands 36 and 37 respectively which with one of their ends by glueing or similar are attached each one at its side of the band portion 33, and at their other end are sewn up to the band portion 34. The free end portion of the band portion 34 is threaded out away from the hauling band 1 via an opening 38 in the lateral edge of said hauling band 1. The embodiments illustrated in FIGS. and 6 are very advantageous as the rollers over which the hauling band 1 is running not necessarily have to be placed along one side only of said hauling band, but can be positioned above as well as below the hauling band which makes the device well adapted to all possible hill formations.

The embodiment illustrated is of course only an example of the object of the invention which can be varied as to its details within the scope of the following claims. Thus there would be no departing from the fundamantal idea of the invention, if the hauling band only comprised a single band, at one side of which the pulling-in band 33, 34 is located and guided in such a way that in rest position it would be kept parallel to the hauling band and lying tight against said band. The fundamantal idea of the invention is likewise not departed from, if the opening 38 would be substituted by an opening in the plane side of the hauling band.

I claim:

1. A ski-lift device comprising a driven hauling means of long extension and moveable in its longitudinal direction, a plurality of interspaced conveyor means connected to said hauling means at interspaced points therealong, said hauling means being constituded by an endless and broad band, rollers supporting said band for running near the ground, links connecting said conveyor means to said hauling means on the plane side of said band facing away from said rollers, the part of said link extending out from said hauling means being flexible substantially in its entire length, spring means tending to pull said links to a resting position parallel to and lying against said hauling means band on its side facing away from said rollers and said conveyor means being capable of being brought out from their resting position to a working position at a distance from said hauling means against the actuation of said spring means.

2. A ski-lift device comprising a driven hauling means of long extension and movable in its longitudinal direction, a plurality of inter spaced conveyor means connected to said hauling means at interspaced points therealong, said hauling means being constituted by an endless and broad band, rollers supporting said band for running near the ground, links connecting said conveyor means to said hauling means on the plane side of said hauling means facing away from said rollers, the part of said link extending out from said hauling means being flexible substantially in its entire length, a pulling band parallel to said hauling means band which is resilient at least along a portion of its extension, said pulling band having one of its ends being attached to said hauling band and the other end being attached to said link and guide means keeping said pulling band substantially parallel to and lying against said hauling band.

3. A device as claimed in claim 2, wherein said hauling means comprises two parallel bands connected along their edges and having openings, the main portion of said pulling band being placed between said parallel bands and the end portion of said pulling band being provided with said guide means being arranged in such a way that it can be drawn out away from said hauling band through one of said openings.

4. A device as claimed in claim 3, wherein said openings are located in the lateral edge of said hauling band. =l l l= l 

1. A ski-lift device comprising a driven hauling means of long extension and moveable in its longitudinal direction, a plurality of interspaced conveyor means connected to said hauling means at interspaced points therealong, said hauling means being constituded by an endless and broad band, rollers supporting said band for running near the ground, links connecting said conveyor means to said hauling means on the plane side of said band facing away from said rollers, the part of said link extending out from said hauling means being flexible substantially in its entire length, spring means tending to pull said links to a resting position parallel to and lying against said hauling means band on its side facing away from said rollers and said conveyor means being capable of being brought out from their resting position to a working position at a distance from said hauling means against the actuation of said spring means.
 2. A ski-lift device comprising a driven hauling means of long extension and movable in its longitudinal direction, a plurality of inter spaced conveyor means connected to said hauling means at interspaced points therealong, said hauling means being constituted by an endless and broad band, rollers supporting said band for running near the ground, links connecting said conveyor means to said hauling means on the plane side of said hauling means facing away from said rollers, the part of said link extending out from said hauling means being flexible substantially in its entire length, a pulling band parallel to said hauling means band which is resilient at least along a portion of its extension, said pulling band having one of its ends being attached to said hauling band and the other end being attached to said link and guide means keeping said pulling band substantially parallel to and lying against said hauling band.
 3. A device as claimed in claim 2, wherein said hauling means comprises two parallel bands connected along their edges and having openings, the main portion of said pulling band being placed between said parallel bands and the end portion of said pulling band being provided with said guide means being arranged in such a way that it can be drawn out away from said hauling band through one of said openings.
 4. A device as claimed in claim 3, wherein said openings are located in the lateral edge of said hauling band. 